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There has been much controversy surrounding the hypersexualization of Disney’s young stars. Whether or not they are pushing the envelope too far is up for debate. A lot of the material on the web criticizes the teens in a negative way, while the other point of view is that people don’t mind the overdose of maturity. Because of her recent and popular transformation from Hannah Montana to Miley Cyrus, the young pop sensation has been the subject of most of the recent ridicule.

This video was leaked this past week from a “friend” of Miley Cyrus’. She is seen smoking salvia, a legal drug in California with serious hallucinogenic qualities. She appears irresponsible and out of control. This blog response goes to show how much impact this video had. She is not representing an image that deserves to be idolized by the vulnerable tween youth.

The principles of democracy are somewhat distorted in this research. Many people don’t want young girls idolizing these rated R role models, while others don’t mind. Young girls everywhere are eager to grow up, so this is the guide they enthusiastically follow. They are the majority, and the most important party involved since they are the ones directly effected, but they are too young to make the moral judgment. Who is directing these young stars to grow up so quickly? Why do some follow, while others do not (Raven-Symone)? What is the fine line between naturally maturing and the indecent dramatization of maturation?

3 Responses to “Disney’s Starlets: Too Much, Too Soon”

WOW.. what a comparison- you wouldn’t even know those are the same people! I wonder who it is that DOESN’T mind the overdose of sexuality… because if this is referring to the parents’ opinions, they must be crazy because I personally don’t know a single parent who would WANT their daughter to idolize these sexy images. That’s just sickening. People always say “kids these days,” but isn’t it really “parents these days?”

It is scary how quickly Disney is encouraging young girls to mature. What’s the rush? “Tweens” shouldn’t feel pressure to wear tons of make up, short skirts and four-inch high heels, that’s not appropriate! There are even 20-something-year-olds running around dressing that way, and they don’t even look appropriate, so how is a thirteen year old supposed to pull it off? Parents need to explain to their kids, especially girls, why it’s unnecessary to look and act that way at such a young age. There’s plenty of time for that! Why is there this rush to see who can mature the fastest? And what happens when you win?

I think that this hyper-sexualization of young Disney stars is forcing children to grow up faster and taking away their right to be a child and have a childhood. If we look at generations older and younger then us we can see a trend that kids are growing up faster, having sex sooner and dressing way beyond their years to look a certain age. I think that we are not only forcing an unrealistic image on young girls and telling them that they need to look a certain way to be liked, but we are taking away their right to grow up at a normal pace. Some girls will not experience puberty til later in life and cannot physically look like many of their “idols”, so is this an excuse for them to not be liked by others? Tweens and other kids have to realize that these characters in their favorite shows are actually older then the part they play in the shows. I think here, the parents need to step in and really open the kids eyes up to what is going on and teach their children that hyper-sexualization is not something they should strive to appeal to.

So, is there research showing that children are suffering from not looking like these girls in the shows? What about parent advocacy groups, do parents approve of the shows that their kids are watching? This is similar to my topic, do you think that Disney is selling sex? What about the boys in these tv shows? What impacts do they have?